Faith-based certificate course · Enrollment open
Gang intervention training for the ones everyone else gave up on.
A practical, faith-based gang prevention, intervention, and exit course built for chaplains, correctional officers, counselors, mentors, and ministry volunteers.
Training is free. The $175 package includes testing, your certificate, the ebook, and 2 hours of personal ministry mentoring with Rayford Johnson by phone or video conference.
Sound familiar?
You sit across from a young man or woman caught in the gang life — in a jail, a prison, or a juvenile hall — and the advice you were trained to give doesn't reach them. The language is wrong. The trust isn't there.
Whether you're a correctional counselor, a prison and jail ministry volunteer, a chaplain, a parent, or a student preparing for this work — you need more than theory. You need a framework that was forged inside the facilities themselves.
This course gives you that framework — step by step, in the words of someone who has used it for three decades.
Gang prevention training and gang intervention training — in one course
Gang prevention training
Learn to spot recruitment, counterfeit respect, and the street mindset before a young person is fully pulled in — and how to redirect them while the door is still open. Built for parents, youth workers, group home and juvenile hall staff, and school and church volunteers.
Gang intervention and exit training
Learn two complete counseling frameworks — R.E.A.C.H.I.N.G. and B.E.A.R. — for walking someone safely out of the life, inside a facility or after release. Built for correctional counselors, chaplains, law enforcement, and reentry and foster care staff.
Most gang training courses are written for enforcement. This one is written for the person sitting across the table — and it ends with a printable certificate you can put in front of an employer.
How it works
Step 1
Enroll in minutes
Founding-student tuition is $175 (regular $297). Receive your access code from the registrar and unlock all eight modules immediately.
Step 2
Learn at your pace
Eight video-driven modules with readings, real case stories, and a short quiz after each. Most learners finish in about 8 hours. Study on any device, whenever you have time.
Step 3
Earn your certificate
Pass each quiz and the final exam at 80% or better, then print your personalized certificate — a credential for your resume, ministry, or agency file.
Everything included — a $297 value for $175
Understanding Gang Culture & Recognizing Risk
Reading the Street and the Soul
Breaking the Gang Mindset: Identity & Truth
Dismantling the Gang Mindset
Music, Media & the Gang Mindset
Guarding the Soundtrack of Street Life
Faith & Courage to Leave Gang Life
Finding the Courage to Leave the Old Life
Surrendering the Old Life: Choosing a New Direction
Handing Over Control to God
Building a Safe Gang Exit & New-Life Plan
Mapping a Safe Exit and a New Future
Gang Ministry Counseling: The R.E.A.C.H.I.N.G. Method
A Counseling Framework
Supporting Lasting Change: The B.E.A.R. Method
Tracking Beliefs, Emotions, Actions, and Results
- ◆2 total hours of personal ministry mentoring/consulting with Rayford Johnson by phone or video conference, included in the $175 package
- ◆The complete Breaking Free ebook, free to download in PDF and Kindle formats — the same book sold on Kindle
- ◆67 review questions plus a 15-question final examination
- ◆Printable certificate of completion with your name and certificate number
- ◆Two complete counseling frameworks you can use the same day: R.E.A.C.H.I.N.G. for volunteer counseling, and B.E.A.R. for belief-rooted intervention
- ◆Real testimonies and case stories from inmates, facilities, and families
- ◆Built on five published books and 30+ years of correctional counseling experience
Included in your $175.00 package
Grow your calling. Bring your questions. Take your next step with confidence.
Receive 2 total hours of personal ministry mentoring and consulting with Rayford Johnson, by phone or video conference, at no additional charge. Explore the course teachings, discuss your ministry goals, and develop practical next steps for serving people affected by gangs and incarceration.
Learn directly from a retired California correctional counselor and certified gang specialist who has served in prison and jail ministry as a volunteer chaplain for over 12 years. As an author, Associate Pastor, ministry instructor, and leader of ThugExposed.org, Ray brings real-world experience and a heart for redemption to help you connect what you learn with the people you are called to serve.
Get the free mentoring prep guide
Ministry-focused guidance, not a substitute for licensed clinical, medical, or legal services.
Community testimony
Leaders who watched the training speak for themselves.
Ministry, correctional, and education professionals describe how Rayford Johnson’s teaching connected with men in recovery, institutional staff, and young people.
The video starts silently. Select the sound control to hear the enhanced audio.
Official letters from the field
Trusted by Sacramento County correctional and juvenile ministries
Official letter
Sacramento County Correctional Ministries
We cannot keep them on our shelves! Inmates frequently testify that these books have profoundly impacted their lives, helping to bring about transformation and renewal.
Rev. Anthony Bell, MDiv
Director of Correctional Ministries · Sacramento County Main Jail and Rio Cosumnes Correctional Center
The Juvenile Justice Chaplaincy
Sacramento County Youth Detention Facility
These books are often selected voluntarily, read with interest, and spark meaningful conversations. They offer truth without judgment and hope without sugarcoating the realities many of these young men and women have lived through.
Rev. Tara Benning
Sr. Chaplain · Sacramento County Youth Detention Facility
Sacramento County Corrections
Office of the Director of Chaplains
Rayford is a gifted teacher, speaker and motivator of people. His knowledge, compassion and wisdom are an asset to any group, church or organization.
Rev. Terry Toliver
Director of Chaplains · Sacramento County Corrections
The material has already changed lives
This book could easily be taught as a manual in how to effectively deal with gang influence because it was written by a bonafide professional who possesses mastery of his subject. Rayford Johnson's expertise as a correctional officer and gang expert really comes to the forefront as he ties in his first-hand experiences with gang members through the interviews that he conducted with them. A must-read for anyone who desires to learn more about the origins of the mindset that gangsters blindly embrace and how to help them look deeply at themselves in order that they can find a way out of their destructive lifestyles.
Thanks for sharing the word of God! Beautifully done. I'm still trying to get to my family about the artists they idolize.
Thank you for coming to see me and for praying over me. I'm not sure how you were chosen, but it was exactly what I needed. Something definitely changed in me. I asked God where to start reading the Bible, and later that same day my prayer was answered through chapter 11 of your book. I consistently read the Bible now every day — every single day, not missing a day. I really feel like God is calling me to do what you do.
Common questions
- What is gang prevention training?
- Gang prevention training teaches counselors, chaplains, officers, parents, and volunteers how to recognize gang recruitment and the street mindset early, and how to redirect a young person before they are fully pulled in. This course covers prevention and exit side by side across eight modules.
- Is this gang intervention course certified?
- The course issues a printable certificate of completion from the Christian Gang Training & Counseling Institute after you pass every module quiz and the 15-question final exam at 80% or better. It documents 8 hours of instruction for your resume, ministry, or agency file.
- Do I need counseling experience to take this course?
- No. The course was written for working counselors and first-time volunteers alike. Every framework is taught step by step with real examples.
- How long do I have to finish?
- The course is fully self-paced. There is no deadline — work through the modules whenever your schedule allows.
- How long does the course take?
- Most learners complete the full course in about 8 hours. That includes all video instruction, reading, module quizzes, and the final exam.
- What do I need to pass?
- Score 80% or better on every module quiz and on the 15-question final exam. You can review the material as often as you need before testing.
- What does the certificate look like?
- A formal, printable landscape certificate with your name, the course title, your completion date, a unique certificate number, and the Program Director's signature line.
- Does the $175 package include personal mentoring?
- Yes. Receive two total hours of ministry mentoring and consulting directly with Rayford Johnson by phone or video conference, alongside your testing, certificate, and ebook. Bring your questions and ministry goals for practical, faith-based guidance.
- How do I enroll?
- Founding-student tuition is a one-time $175 (regular $297), handled through the registrar. Once your payment is confirmed you receive an access code — enter it on the enrollment page and the full course unlocks instantly.
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The people who need you won't wait.
Eight modules. Two proven frameworks. One certificate. A lifetime of knowing how to sit across from someone in the life — and actually reach them.
One-time $175 package · Printable certificate · 2 hours of personal ministry mentoring